The One He Left Behind
by Blue-Eyed-Devil0689
Summary: We all know that the guys left Minnesota to become famous...but what if Kendall had left someone else behind? Kendall/OC Oneshot


Disclaimer: As much as I love Kendall, I do not own him or anything related to Big Time Rush. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Left Behind**

Shae has long ago decided that the only good thing about her job working at the local grocery store was getting to see Kendall Knight every day. She was close with all of the guys, really, but she shared something more with Kendall. He seemed to understand her on a level she hadn't thought possible. They actually got each other…they shared many likes and dislikes, liked a lot of the same movies and music, had the same sense of humor….they were like two halves of a whole. At least to Shae. She was completely, hopelessly in love with Kendall, but she was just too afraid to tell him, not wanting to risk losing him as a friend if he didn't feel the same way.

Shae was busy stocking the shelves, putting up canned peaches and green beans…she generally believed that she would be stuck doing this until the end of time. She had dreams of someday becoming a famous actress, but that would actually require her to leave this tiny Minnesota town. That simply wasn't an option at this point. She didn't have the money to go anywhere.

She was starting to wonder what had happened to Kendall who should have been back from getting those shopping carts by now. She glanced out the window, shocked to see him, James, Logan and Carlos all talking with some big guy and well dressed woman who appeared to have gotten out of the limo that was behind them! What on earth was going on? The big guy yelled at Kendall for a moment, though she couldn't hear what about. Kendall remained as laid back as ever and soon the big guy seemed to agree to something before getting back in the limo with the woman as all of the guys seemed to celebrate, patting Kendall on the back.

A moment later, Kendall came running back inside, looking a little dazed. "Shae! SHAE! You are NOT going to believe what just happened!" he cried. He then told her all about the events of the night before and how they'd all ended up auditioning for Gustavo Roque and Kendall had actually been the one that got chosen. However, he'd refused to leave unless Gustavo took the rest of the guys and turned it into a band project. "And he agreed! James, Logan, Carlos and I are all moving to LA!" he yelled happily.

For a moment, all she could do was look at him, his sandy blond hair sticking out from beneath his favorite blue beanie (which he claimed was lucky), those dazzling green eyes alight with an excitement she'd never seen from him while he was dressed in that awful red apron. Her heart felt as though it had shattered into a million pieces, but she forced that smile to stay on her lips. Shae just knew she couldn't ruin his happiness by bringing him down. "Kendall, that's awesome! This is the chance of a lifetime for you guys! I always told you that you had an amazing voice!" she teased, trying to keep from crying then and there.

"You should come with us! Get a place near ours! You're the best actress I've ever seen! You'd be famous in no time." he assured her. She simply smiled sadly and shook her head. The picture he painted sounded wonderful, but her up and leaving just couldn't happen at this point.

"Come on, get real! You know my parents want me to go to school and I have to stay here to earn money for that. Besides, I don't have near enough money to move all the way to California! This is your opportunity…mine will come some other time…" she said softly, trying to sound convincing. Kendall looked devastated and she couldn't resist reaching out and hugging him. She smiled as she took in his scent of coffee and spice. It was just so uniquely him that she would know it (and love it) anywhere. "Maybe when you get famous you can fly me out for a weekend or something…we can hang out and you can show me around," she suggested. His strong, warm arms wrapped around her, gently crushing her to his chest as he nuzzled his face in her short choppy brunette hair.

"It won't be the same without you Shae…" he murmured. She laughed weakly, not quite ready to let go of him just yet, and it seemed he felt the same as his embrace tightened on her. She buried her face in his shoulder, trying not to let him see the tears forming in her eyes.

"Nonsense…you'll be so busy with your new music career you won't even miss me," she told him. She felt him sigh and place a gentle kiss to her hair.

"You have no idea…" he muttered very quietly, as though he were talking to himself. Shae didn't even think to press the matter at all, just wanting to enjoy this last bit of time with him before he was gone for good. There was a big chance that once he got to be famous in Hollywood he wouldn't be coming back.

A week or so later they finally said goodbye and it was honestly one of the hardest things Shae had ever had to do. She watched as they all boarded the plane that would take them away from dreary Minnesota and to the place where they would get to have their dreams come true. And that was something Shae couldn't feel sad about. Many people talked about making it out of this small little town, but her Kendall…her guys…they were actually doing it.

Kendall talked with her nearly every night for the next few months. Sometimes he would just call or text her and sometimes he would video chat with her online. Those were times Shae liked best…she was actually able to see him then. She could see his adorable smile as he detailed excitedly about events of the day or watch his hilariously animated gestures as he told about some crazy scheme the guys had attempted. It was as close to talking with him face to face as she could get.

Normally she tried to keep the conversation on his life in LA, not really wanting to explain to him that she was no further ahead in life than she had been when he left. She still worked at the grocery store! But it was during one of their nightly video chats that he finally got curious. "So, you stay pretty quiet about yourself! Tell me how your life is going! Who do you hang out with now a days with us gone?" he wanted to know.

Shae rolled her eyes, laughing lightly as she tried to play it off. "No one, really…But you know I've never been the "hanging out" type," she said, doing her best not to let him know just how hard it had been for her without him and the guys.

"I don't like the sound of that, Shae," Kendall said with frown. "Look, I know you miss us. We miss you too! I miss you like crazy…but I don't want you to just cut yourself off from everyone else." Those amazing green eyes seemed to see into her very soul even so many states away. He paused and for a moment it looked as though what he was going to say next pained him greatly, but he seemed to push it down best he could. "Maybe it's time you got a boyfriend…." he said.

Shae gave a forced smile, shaking her head. "No, Kendall…no way!" she said, trying to laugh it off again.

"Why, not? It kills me to think of you being so lonely there! And I know there are a ton of guys who would love to date you there in Minnesota!" he told her fervently, looking almost desperate.

"Well, I don't want to date them," she said, a bit more harshly than she had originally intended. "Why not?" he practically demanded.

"Because they aren't you!" she finally exclaimed. She hadn't meant to say anything like that out loud. It was just out before she had even realized it. Her expression turned horrified as it registered what she had said.

"What did you say?" he asked softly. The shock in his voice and on his face was almost too much for her to handle.

"I…I'm sorry…I have to go," she said hurriedly as she slammed her laptop shut. She was terrified about what was going to happen now…she almost couldn't bear to find out.

In the week following, Shae couldn't bring herself to sign into video chat. She didn't want to hear Kendall's voice sympathetically trying to explain he didn't feel the same way. The first couple of days Kendall tried to call and even text, but she wouldn't answer and deleted the messages without looking at them. Eventually even those completely stopped. She figured that he'd finally given up on trying to let her down easy. He would probably just ignore her from now on. That would probably hurt worse than hearing him tell her he only wanted to be friends.

Shae was at work a week after the incident and she was feeling miserable. She couldn't stop thinking about Kendall and it was painful trying to think about the fact that she was more than likely never going to talk with him again.

She was busy, sweeping up a spill in the middle of the aisle, wishing for the hundredth time that she had just gone with Kendall and the guys. Perhaps then their relationship would still be intact.

"Are you still working here?" came a wonderfully familiar, slightly teasing voice. Shae straightened, whirling around to, sure enough, find Kendall standing there. It was really all she could do not to go running and throw herself into his arms. There was alook in his eyes was unlike anything she'd ever seen before so filled with intensity, desire and determination_._ That look seemed to show that he wanted her all for himself and nothing and no one was going to stand in his way.

"Kendall! What are you doing here?" she breathed in shock. His eyes grew darker as he stepped closer to her. He brushed back a strand of her choppy dark hair, his body so close to her's.

"Well, I left something of mine here in Minnesota," he murmured softly. "And this time, I'm not leaving here without her." Her eyes were wide as she gazed up at him, wondering if this was really happening! She'd dreamed about this moment for so long!

"Kendall…do you really mean it?" she asked quietly, shivering in delight as his fingers still lingered against her face, so wonderfully rough from all of the time he'd spent clutching a hockey stick.

"I love you, Shae…it has been torture these past few months without you. I was living for the time we got to talk together at night…" he said with a gentle smile; one that made her knees feel dangerously weak. "When you admitted how you felt I don't think I've ever been so happy in my entire life! But you ran before I got a chance to explain I felt the same way about you. I kept trying to call and text you but you wouldn't respond. Finally, I knew I just had to come back and tell you in person."

Shae felt like the stupidest person alive! She'd been so miserable this past week, when it could have been the one of the happiest weeks of her life. She closed her eyes as he rested his forehead against her own. "I love you too, Kendall…so much! I just hate that I'm going to have to say goodbye to you all over again!" she lamented.

His beautiful green eyes caught her own, looking at her seriously. "I already told you, Shae…I'm not leaving without you this time. If you won't go, I'm staying here with you. I can't be away from you again…not when I know you love me too…" he told her firmly.

She couldn't believe it! He was willing to give up everything he had in LA just to be with her! Finally she knew her decision. "And you should know that I'll follow you anywhere you want to go. I won't let you mess up this opportunity…so we'll just have to go back to LA." The wide smile that crossed his sweet face let her know that she had definitely chosen right. His lips suddenly pressed to her own in a heart melting kiss…it was so much better than anything she could have ever imagined.

"I am taking you away from dreary Minnesota…and away from this awful job! LA will be full of people tripping over themselves to cast you in movies and shows…college will be taken care of in no time…" he said with certainty. "Until then…we'll spend as much time together as possible!" He reached around and untied her apron, slipping it over her head and tossing it to the floor. He scooped her up in his arms, literally carrying her away from this dead end job and no where town. Kendall was and always would be her Knight in shining armor.


End file.
